Can you get diagnosed with ADHD even if you don't have it?

I have been married over a year and recently learned that my husband was diagnosed with ADHD in college. Now he denies that he has it, and claims that he cheated on the test to get diagnosed that way on purpose. According to him, he failed in college and got kicked out due to his incompetence with writing (he tends to rewrite over and over due to his obsession to write perfect sentences, thus takes much longer time to finish things) and one of the professors suggested to him to use ADHD as an excuse to get back to school. So he "intentionally" got diagnosed with ADHD and back then took medicine, saw counselor, and showed some improvement, and thus successfully got back in and finished school.

He still has big issues with writing at his work, which he claims is due to OCD, not ADHD. The thing is that I suspected that he had ADHD from independently talking to my counselor about our marital problems, NOT KNOWING that he was previously diagnosed with ADHD. I could totally relate his behaviors to the ADHD symptoms -- forget things, unorganized, no patience, hyper-focus, anger outburst, selfishness, no empathy for me, hard to please, Jekyll in public and Hyde at home. His symptoms are milder than other people that I see on this forum, but I CLEARLY see every component on the list in him. And I have been living miserably from the Day 1 of my marriage because of his eccentric behaviors and thinking process!!!

What a COINCIDENCE that I noticed his ADHD behaviors with no prior information when he was diagnosed with ADHD only because he FAKED it?? Can anyone believe this?

Now all he cares about is to prove to me that he does not have ADHD (even though he is taking Adderall simply because "it helps him to process information faster" as he says). He says that his Psychologist does not think that he has ADHD. How shall I interpret this? How objective is the ADHD test anyway? How can I really believe what he says when I see symptoms telling me otherwise?

Comments

If anything, the doctor could miss the ADD because the ADDer could be stimulated by the examination and be performing better than usual. Also OCD is pretty common in ADDer's. I believe there are OCD traits in many of my behaviors. Many guys are embarrassed by this diagnosis because, like me, I used to think it was just an excuse for a kids bad behavior. An ADDer's self esteem is pretty much trashed by adulthood too. As far as what my doctor says, "If the meds work, then the proof is in the pudding"... Adderall affected me within 30 minutes and I knew things were better. If a Non-ADDer takes a standard dose, I don't believe it does much for them, other than making them a little edgy, or a little loss of appetite.

Most of the diagnosis can be done by observation, family medical history and the patient telling his own history. I think most of the specialists can spot a "Faker", because there are so many drug seekers trying to get the controlled substance. Many ADDer's just don't want to accept the diagnosis.

YYZ, not that I would ever do this but I am curious. If I gave a dose of Adderall to my BF without his knowledge what effect would I be likely to see? Are the drugs so tied in to the knowledge and education aspect that I would notice nothing or would he derive a benefit anyway? What would he be likely to think, see or feel?

If the Adderall dosage was close to what he would need, he would feel Much Better within about 30 minutes. Like walking out of the fog, So incredibly clear. I would expect you would notice him to be in a much better mood, more patient and better able to get things done. The Knowledge helps by explaining "Why" you were so angry, sad, thought so little of yourself, failed at so many things and so on. Having ADD, you figure out ways to cope with things and these coping skills can vary in effectiveness. They can work well for the ADDer, but be destructive to the people in their lives. They can be Not So Great for the ADDer and the people around them think the ADDer is just a laid-back, sweet, helpful, balanced person. But these coping skills are built on a house of cards and if too much load falls on the ADDer and the unraveling can begin.

Everything I have ever read says the ADDer has got to get some therapy, or other ADD support and learn how to create replacement coping skills. The ADDer HAS to want to help himself...